----- Original Message -----
From: "Desta Elliott" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2001 9:48 PM
Subject: Re: VA-ROOTS Digest - 20 Jan 2001 to 21 Jan 2001 (#2001-22)


> I read with great interest the results of your research in Overwarton
> Parish. My ancestor, Patrick Peyton Kendrick, was born there is 1725. All
we
> know about his background is that his father was Scottish and named
Thomas.
> thanks
>
> Date:    Sun, 21 Jan 2001 19:37:37 -0500
> From:    Herbert Farmer <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Genealogy Detective
>
> Hi all, My last few postings have been in response to a few people
> suggesting that the list must be dead since there is so little activity.
> I hope that I have rejuvenated some of the thought processes. I will
> climb upon the soap box one more time and then I promise I will go back
> into hibernation before someone flames me.
> I would like to suggest that you become a GENEALOGY DETECTIVE when
> reviewing data that you receive from anyone else or the even the primary
> and secondary evidence that you may record yourself. Misinterpretation
> of fact can place a person in the wrong lineage and when this gets
> proliferated it does a disservice to another researcher even when the
> intention is well meant. I always try to document  exactly as the record
> states and then add my analysis to be accepted or tossed out as the
> researcher so desires. I have found fabricated middle names, fabricated
> bible records, etc. that have not stood the test of time when other data
> is correlated with what has been bandied about. Let me provide you with
> a couple of examples that I have run across in my research which may
> convey my message:
>
> OVERWHARTON PARISH RECORDS (OPR)
>  Following are some Heflin abstracts from the Overwharton Parish Records
> of Stafford Co., VA for 1724 through 1774:
>
>  Date   Event  Names
>
> 7 Mar 1739/1740  Birth  William s/o William & Margaret Heflon
>  20 May 1740  Marriage James Heffernon & Alander Payton
>  29 Sep 1741  Marriage William Heffernon & Sarah Martin
>  1 Oct 1741  Birth  Simon, s/o William Heaflon
>  20 Nov 1741  Birth  John s/o James Haffernon
>  28 Sep 1749  Birth  James, s/o James Haffernon
>  3 Dec 1749  Baptism  James, s/o James Haffernon
>
>  Are these Heflon, Heffernon, Heaflon, & Haffernon surnames related or
> are they of different lineage? A lot of data that is being handed down
> by prior researchers are that they are all related and that Simon is the
> son of William Heffernon & Sarah Martin. I believe that this is an
> incorrect interpretation for the following reasons:
>
> 1. William Heffernon and Sarah Martin were married on 29 September 1741.
>
> 2. Simon, s/o William Heaflon was born on 1 October 1741.
> 3. These two events were 3 days apart, and although this is entirely
> possible, I believe that the Parish Recorder would have recorded the
> Surname with the same spelling for the two events, if they were related.
> This is an important conclusion in that there are two different lines
> here and incorrect interpretation combines the two lines (that I call
> German & Irish).
> 4. Analysis of other documents including the Fauquier Co., VA Personal
> Property Tax Lists for 1782 through 1850 support this conclusion in that
> the German Line is found in NW Fauquier Co. while the Irish Line is
> found in Southern Fauquier Co., VA on two different lists.
>
> I conclude that from the above listed names in the OPR that the German
> Line is William Heflon and wife Margaret had two sons William (who
> married Margaret Nancy Haddox) and Simon (who married Ailse Payne).
>
> I further conclude that James Heffernon and William Heffernon are
> probably brothers, but could be cousins, and that James Heffernon and
> Alander Payton had two sons James and John. Subsequent investigation
> into other documents indicates that John is a Revolutionary War Soldier
> who enlisted in North Carolina.
>
>
>
>
> JR. & Sr. SURNAME EXTENSIONS
>
>  Following is a transcription of an entry in the Index to Marriage Bonds
> and Returns, Book 4, Located at the Fauquier County Court House,
> Warrenton, VA:
>
> PAGE NO. INTENT TO MARRY  PARENTS  BONDSMAN
>
> 133  Lawson A. Heflin   William Heflin Jr. William Heflin Jr.
>   Ann Eliza Heflin   William Heflin Sr. William Heflin Sr.
>
>
>  Bondsmen were Lawson A. Heflin, William Heflin Jr., and William Heflin
> Sr. The marriage document identifies Lawson A. Heflin as the son of
> William Heflin Jr. and Miss Ann Eliza Heflin as the daughter of William
> Heflin Sr. A lot of the early Heflin researchers have proliferated the
> interpretation of this marriage bond as William Heflin Jr. also, being
> the son of William Heflin Sr. This misinterpretation was further
> compounded when an early researcher assigned the middle name of Lawson
> to William Heflin Jr.  The assignment of middle names by this researcher
> was common place for this researcher and he did so to help him keep all
> of the William's, James', and John's straight in his own mind.
> Unfortunately, a lot of these middle names have also been proliferated
> by subsequent researchers. In fact, the William Heflin Jr. here (Irish
> Line) is the son of John Hefferlin (VA Revolutionary War Soldier) and
> his middle name was James.  The William Heflin Sr. here (German Line) is
> really William Heflin Jr. (who married first Susannah Sukey Ellis and
> second Elizabeth Payne) the son of William Hefling Sr. and Margaret
> Nancy Haddox.
>  This misinterpretation was made because of the common day
> interpretation of Jr. being the son of a Sr. with the same given names.
> I the olden days it was common practice to identify two individuals with
> the same given name by attaching the Jr. to the younger of the two, and
> Sr. to the elder regardless of whether or not they are related. In the
> above case, the William Heflin Jr. was born on 20 August 1777 and the
> William Heflin Sr. was born on 7 Mar 1740 and were of different lineage.
>
>  The identification of the parents of Lawson A. Heflin and Ann Eliza
> Heflin is supported by analysis of the Fauquier Co. Personal Property
> Tax Lists with the German Line being located in NW Fauquier Co. and the
> Irish Line being located in Southern Fauquier Co., VA.
>
> Incidentally, if any of you find ancestors in NW Fauquier Co., VA go
> look in Germanna Records to see if you have a German connection (some of
> these had Lord Fairfax Leases) and perhaps descend from those who came
> over in the early 1700's to work the mines around Germanna. There is an
> excellent series on Germanna that is on this list.
>
> Remember, there is a lot of truth in hand me downs, etc., but there are
> also, a lot of untruths. There are none so blind as those who do not
> wish to see. It is up to you to be a Genealogy Detective. And now, to
> bed. Best of everything, Phyllis.
>
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